Another Murder Mystery?
by Popstar91124
Summary: Your everyday case of whodunit with a Fire Emblem twist. Yaoi involved. Don't like, don't read. Some randomness and a bit of OOC-ness in Matthew.
1. John

Meep.

Yay, more stories! And complete randomness. And universe crossing. I love doing that.

Disclaimer's at the end, like before. And I'll just leave you to your own devices at that.

* * *

"Is he seriously dead?" Matthew asked, looking over the body of a face-down teenage boy. He was found about ten minutes ago, lying there in one of the mansion's common rooms; Erk and Roshea didn't hesitate to do a full examination of the room and the body to find out just what had happened.

"Without a doubt," Erk replied, never looking up from his notes. He was about 40 in the body of a 16-year-old with shoulder-length wavy purple hair and glimmering purple eyes, making him the reason for quite a few fan-girl squeals whenever he walked by on the street. His soft British accent endeared him even further to girls, much to his chagrin. With years of practice in both medicine and forensics, he was the perfect person to investigate the murder. "You're more of a knife expert than I am, and even I know that no one can survive a stab wound that deep to the neck. Roshea," he turned to the boy who had just entered the room, "did you find out who the child is?"

At 15 with short purple hair, soft purple eyes, and nearly an entire library's worth of knowledge, Roshea was thought by just about anyone who didn't know him to be Erk's son until they heard him speak. His thick Irish accent is what gave him away as someone different. As Erk's pupil and protégé, he was charged with gathering the information needed to solve the mystery. "Yeah. John Barnhouser, age 16. Came here for the same reason we originally did. The owner said he was planning on becoming a surgeon."

Erk shook his head. "Pity this had to happen to someone with such a future ahead of him."

"What killed him?"

"I can't give specifics quite yet, but I can definitely tell you that he bled to death."

"Is there a weapon?"

"Not here, no. Meaning two different things: one, they took the weapon with them and can easily kill someone else, and two, I can't even tell you yet if it was a knife or not, or what kind, if so."

"Meaning there's the possibility of it being almost anything."

"Which is a huge problem."

"I can tell you if it was a knife or not." A boy about Roshea's age with blue hair tied in a low ponytail and wide, bright fire-blue eyes walked past Roshea and knelt down next to the body. "You know they're my specialty."

"Rickard," Erk started, sounding a bit skeptical, "could you really tell yourself from the way he is now?"

"Yep," Rickard answered without hesitation. "Used to do this all the time, in case you don't know." He pointed to a fancy beige lamp sitting on the table behind Erk. "Could you turn that on?"

"Didn't the owner give that thing a name?" Matthew asked. He was a couple of years older than Erk with short, messy, sandy blond hair and light brown eyes. He was a longtime friend of Erk's and was called on to help with a little bit of investigating.

"He named it Gwen," Roshea answered, shaking his head slightly. "Why, I don't know, but he did."

"Sounds a bit mental if you ask me..." Rickard muttered. He shook his head and got to work, moving the blood-coated skin on the dead boy's neck. "Uh...yeah, definitely a knife. Straight-edge, about...seven inches if it went all the way to the hilt. one sec..." He moved a hand to his back and unsheathed a knife exactly like what he was describing. "Like this."

Matthew scoffed. "Funny how you have the exact type of weapon you're saying was used in the murder. Is there something you're trying to tell us, Rickard?"

Rickard looked at him pointedly. "Yes, Matthew, I'm the killer. I killed this random kid and am pulling out the exact weapon I used, knowing for a fact it will blow my cover."

Erk moved in between the two. "That's enough. Matthew, he has a point. Very few people are as bad as you're implying." But this still made Erk suspicious of the child. He could really be confessing in a way that would throw them off his trail and keep their eyes off of him. Erk wouldn't voice his thoughts, however. Better to stay in Rickard's good graces for the time being. He would tell Roshea of his findings later if the teen hadn't already thought of it himself.

Roshea sighed. "let's just get this cleaned up and start some investigating. In case you two don't know, the longer we sit here arguing, the closer we come to having another murder to deal with."

"Fine. But I'm keeping my eyes on you," Matthew told Rickard.

The young thief just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."


	2. Raven

Meep.

Just saying, this is where the yaoi comes in. Don't like it, leave now.

And there are supernatural mentions. Partially a Vampire Academy and Hex Hall reference, but not too much.

* * *

"Get back here!" A brunette teenage girl ran down the hallway after a light pink rabbit.

Further down the hall was an open door leading to the basement. A shadowy figure was lying in wait in the vent across from it. When the girl reached the doorway, they said, "Bingo..." and set off the flamethrower next to them. As the target went up in flames screaming, they jumped out of the vent and shoved her down the stairs, throwing the flamethrower down and shutting the door right afterwards. They climbed back into the vent as soon as an explosion was heard and footsteps started bounding down the hallway. "Two down, four to go..."

* * *

**Raven: **Yay, fire!

**Erk:** ...Really?

**Raven:** Hey, I wanted to die in the awesomest way possible!

**Courtney:** At least the walls are fire-proof.

**Rickard:** Boooooring...

**Courtney:** Meh. Go somewhere. Anyways, back to the story!

* * *

"What was-?!"

"Erk!" Roshea ran up to Erk as he was finishing a conversation with the mansion's owner. "I know you just heard that."

"Well, duh! Even if I hadn't, how could I not notice all of the shaking?! What just happened?!"

The owner cowered in the corner, his hands over his head. "I-it's happening again! The darkness will be released once again!"

Erk approached the man slowly, putting a hand out to try and comfort him. "It's going to be alright. We'll get to the bottom of this. I promise."

"Oh, Erk, hurry up!" Roshea grabbed his arm and started partially dragging him in the direction of the explosion.

The owner was still crouched in the corner, staring at the leaving pair. "The darkness has returned to us..."

* * *

"There you two are!" Rickard nearly ran into Erk and Roshea as they were running to the scene of the explosion. "Chief and Matthew just finished putting out this massive fire in the basement and found a body down there!"

Roshea ran a hand through his hair in frustration. "I told you this was going to happen again. There's another murder before we've even partially figured out the first one!"

"How do you even know it was murder?" Rickard asked. "She could have just blown herself up."

"How do you know it was a girl?"

"Because I got a glimpse of the body. Didn't look like it had a-"

"Okay, okay," Roshea interrupted him, putting his hands up in front of him. "Just forget I even asked."

"Let's just get down there and figure out what we can," Erk said, changing the subject. "Rickard, lead the way."

The young thief nodded sharply. "Of course."

"One thing first."

"Yeah?"

Erk pointed to the pink rabbit in the boy's arms. "...Where did you get the rabbit from?"

"Oh, him. I found him hopping down the hall the explosion came from. Chief said I could keep him." The teen cuddled his face with the rabbit's. "I'm going to call him Hopper."

Hopper twitched his nose and cuddled back with Rickard. His face read, 'Ah, appreciation.'

"O...K...?" Roshea looked slightly weirded out before shaking his head. "Whatever. Let's just go."

Rickard nodded again. "Kay."

* * *

"The venting's open," Roshea noted as they came to the door leading to the basement.

Erk nodded slightly. "Meaning someone was most likely lying in wait for the victim to pass by." He also noticed the iconic lamp sitting on a table near the vent, but he dismissed it as mere coincidence. Surely someone had just moved it from where it was during the first murder...

"AGH! The think almost bit my hand off!"

The sound of Matthew's voice turned their attentions to the basement. Going down the stairs, they found two men crouched around a charred body.

Matthew was one man. He had teeth marks along his wrist as he sheathed one of his daggers.

Erk started to approach him. "Matthew, what-" He saw a crushed shell in front of the man and stopped, pointing at it. "-is that a clam?"

"Yes, and as you clearly heard, it tried to bite off my hand."

"Even though they're not supposed to have teeth..." the other man muttered, going back to his inspection of the body. He was about 20 with red-orange hair and eyes and an Irish accent so faint you sometimes couldn't even tell it was there. He glanced at Rickard and Hopper. "You still have the rabbit?"

The boy cuddled with his bundle of fuzz again. "Yup yup. He's too adorable to get rid of. Isn't that right, Hopper?" The rabbit nodded his head. Rickard's smile widened. "Told you."

"Julian, what did you figure out?" Roshea asked.

"Well, the big thing's that the body was burned before there was even any explosion. A few bones are broken, too. As for the fire-starter..." Julian held up a cool, twisted piece of metal. "Looks like part of a flamethrower to me."

"...So she didn't blow herself up?" Rickard asked, sounding a little disappointed.

"No, Rickard, she didn't blow herself up."

"You say it was a girl too, then?" Roshea asked.

"I can't say for an absolute fact, but I'm pretty sure," Julian answered, then quickly added, "And I didn't figure it out the way Rickard probably did."

"How so, then?"

"I found a bag at the end of the hallway that most likely belonged to her. Raven Keller, 16." He wrinkled his nose in slight disgust. "Apparently she was obsessed with rabbits and yaoi fanfiction."

Rickard looked slightly offended by the older man's reaction. "You're saying that like it's a bad thing. Bunnies are too adorable to be hating on them. And about the yaoi part..." He walked over to Julian, set Hopper down, and sat down on the older man's lap facing him. He ran a finger along his face, a devious grin on his own. "...What right have you to talk when you're in one yourself?"

"Did you seriously just break the- mmph?!" Julian's words were interrupted when Rickard's lips pressed against his own. He didn't seem bothered, though, because he willingly returned the kiss, and it quickly turned into a full-on make-out session.

The other three men and Hopper looked at the pair awkwardly...well, as awkwardly as a rabbit could look, that is. The two acted like brothers in public, but when they were alone or with a select few...there was nothing familial about their actions. But did they have to do that during a murder investigation?

Matthew looked a bit irked. "Isn't that statutory?"

They broke off the kiss so Julian could speak while Rickard continued to trace kisses along his neck, the man's hand in his hair. "There's really no reason for that anymore since Rickard stopped aging. He could be 18 right now for all you kn- Hahhh…" Pain registered briefly on his face as the younger boy sank his fangs into his neck, but it soon turned into a look of pleasure as the endorphins from the bite started rushing through his blood stream.

Erk twitched slightly at the smell of fresh blood. He was a vampire himself, and the last time he fed was a couple days before he and Roshea had even come to the mansion. Even with his bloodstone tied around his neck, his throat burned at the thought of hot blood running down it, and he had to close his eyes and calm his mind before those thoughts overran it and drove him to insanity.

"And now Julian's high." Roshea threw his hands up in exasperation. "Perfect. There goes any other credible information we could have gotten out of him."

"Oh. Whoops. Sorry," Rickard said, looking a little sheepish as he removed his fangs and turned his upper body to face everyone else.

"I'm not THAT high," Julian tried to argue, putting a hand to his head and shaking it slightly. "I'm really just a little light-headed is all. You know that doesn't get to me as much as it normally does other people."

Matthew shook his head and got back on topic. "So let's just get this story straight: a girl who's obsessed with rabbits and yaoi- though I doubt the latter has anything to do with this- is killed in an explosion in the basement. However, she ends up with previous burn marks and broken bones. And there was a rabbit in the same hallway as the door. See the connection?"

"Definitely," Roshea answered. "Raven finds Hopper and chases after him, leading her to the basement door. The killer, meanwhile, is waiting in the open vent across from it, and they set her on fire as she passes by. He then pushes her down the stairs and throws the flamethrower down right afterwards in order to both guarantee she dies and destroy any traces of evidence there could possibly be. It makes perfect sense."

Erk nodded. "Now we just have to figure out who the killer is."

"Right." The teen turned to the rest. "Who arrived at the scene and when?"

"What?" Rickard looked a little confused. "Why do you ask? You…really don't think one of us did it, do you?"

"I never said that," Roshea said, shaking his head. "But now that you bring it up, unless there's someone here we don't know about, the killer's got to be either the owner- which I highly doubt due to his…mental state- or one of us. But even if it's one of the other two options, knowing where everyone was during these events would help to put the pieces together."

"Or we could just ask the rabbit," Matthew said a bit sarcastically, eyeing Hopper. "If he was there when it happened, he may know who did it."

Hopper made a few undistinguishable noises that Rickard translated as: "You expect me to be paying attention to that when I'm being chased by some crazy lady?! You do sound a little familiar to me, though."

"That…makes no sense, but whatever." The older man shook his head. "Well, if we don't have an answer from him, the killer might as well confess now and save us the trouble. What?" he asked Rickard specifically. "You're looking at me like I have two heads or something."

"…You're kidding me, right? What smart person would admit to killing two teenagers in cold blood?"

"One who knows they can't hide forever and that confessing now would make it easier on themselves."

"Oh, really? Then how do we know you didn't do it and aren't just bringing up the idea to throw off the trail?"

"That's ridiculous! I wasn't even here during the first murder!"

"Oh, you weren't, were you? Prove it so you'll stop looking and sounding a fool."

"Says the child straddling an older man's lap."

"He's not that much older than me."

"It's old enough for statutory. If you think you're so smart, why don't you admit your fault? You killed both of these kids and are blaming me, failingly."

"You're the one blaming me since this started!"

"Because you're the most likely candidate."

"Where would I get a flamethrower?!"

"I doubt it'd be any trouble for a thief like you to get ahold of."

"You're one too!"

"Ah, I'm an ex-thief."

"Yeah, right."

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Erk yelled, snapping everyone's attentions to him. He was clutching his head, a pained look on his face. "I'm getting a migraine listening to you two bicker like a married couple! Now, clearly we're not getting anywhere like this, so either help and NOT argue or get out so the people who actually WANT to figure this out can work!"

The two quieted down, and Rickard seemed to shrink against Julian, a look of fear in his eyes. One of worry and apology formed in Erk's own upon noticing this. _He's still just a child, and one with a past far worse than most. Don't bring the pain and fear back to him._ The man ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry, Rickard. I didn't mean to snap like that. I've just been way too tense lately with everything that's been going on."

"Sure, apologize to him and not me…" Matthew muttered.

Erk gave him a pointed look. "Okay, I have no reason to be worried about you after the both of us have dealt with Serra for all of these years. Besides, you started it."

Matthew's jaw dropped. "Wha-"

Erk turned back to Rickard and flashed his old signature smirk. "Just ignore him. He can be a real hardhead sometimes. But really, though, I didn't mean to scare you like that. Forgive me?"

Rickard turned around completely to face him, his smile returning. Julian wrapped his arms around his waist, and Hopper jumped onto his lap. "Yeah. I do."

"Great."

"Now then," Roshea started, a smile on his face. "What say we get back to work?"

Save for Matthew, who was sulking in the background, they all nodded their heads in unison, Hopper included. "Right!"


	3. Julian

Meep.

I love confusing people with my logic.

Anyways, still yaoi involved. Don't really need to keep saying it, but there always seems to be that one person...

But that's enough complaining. Onward!

* * *

"Gods, Rickard," Julian started as the two walked into one of the mansion's spacious common rooms, Hopper in the younger's arms. "I don't think I've ever seen you argue with someone like that before."

The boy just shrugged. "Well, it was a stupid idea to think that a killer would go and just confess in front of everyone. Besides, you know I never let anyone other than you have the last say in anything."

"Well, isn't that true."

Hopper's ears perked up, looking as if he'd realized something. He jumped out of Rickard's arms and ran out the door on the opposite side of the room.

"Wha-? Hopper, wait up!" Rickard ran out of the room after Hopper, leaving Julian alone with a killer on the loose.

"Rick- " Before he could finish, a hand clamped over his mouth and-

* * *

**Courtney: **WAUGH! I can't watch!

**Raven:** Awwww...I wanted to see what happened!

**John:** You still haven't told them my final words yet.

**Gwen:** I haven't said anything either.

**John:** Well, you're just that random lamp in the background. I'm more important because I'm an actual person.

**Raven:** Who's dead before the story even starts.

**John:** So? I'm still important because there would be no story without me. So there.

**Courtney:** He's got a point there.

**John:** Exactly.

**Raven:** Yeah, well, my death's still better than yours. Fire beats knife every time.

**John:** No it doesn't. Bleeding to death all the way!

**Raven:** *beep* please!

**Courtney:** Hey! Let's keep this T-rated, please!

**Raven:** ...Sorry.

**John:** Yeah, Raven, keep it T-rated!

**Raven:** Oh, shut up, John.

**John:** Is that a challenge?

**Courtney:** Break it up. John, if you're going to fight someone again like you did Tomas, just wait until the end.

**John:** Fine. Whatever.

**Gwen:** ...Am I even in this at all?

**Courtney:** Don't worry, you'll get your chance later. So, yeah, back to the story!

* * *

"Thank you." Erk took the papers from the owner on the recent influxes of magic in the area. "I have a good feeling these will come in handy later."

"Of course. They're all yours. But I must ask you, how did you come by your assistant?"

"Hm?" He furrowed his brow. "Roshea? He's the son of a friend of mine, and a boy with quite a bit of potential. I couldn't turn him down when he asked to learn directly from me."

"Well, yes, but...there is something...dark, about him. Do you not feel it?"

"Yes, I feel it. I have from the moment his magic first manifested. It's in his blood. It isn't so much different from my own. Why do ask? You seem troubled."

"Well...it's just-"

"Erk? Are you just about finished?" Roshea came up to the pair, his hands behind his back, leaning back on his heels.

Erk turned to him and nodded. "Hm. Yes, just about." He turned back to the owner and bowed slightly. "If you'll excuse us."

"Uh, yes, of course. One last thing, Erk," he said as the two started to walk away.

The man turned his head as Roshea kept walking. "Yes?"

He leaned in toward Erk, speaking quietly so that the teen couldn't hear. "I just have to say, you can't always trust everything that seems so familiar to you. The darkness has returned, without a doubt. You must decide on just who your allies and your enemies truly are."

Erk nodded slowly. "I...understand. Thank you." And with that, he started walking to catch up to Roshea.

The owner sighed deeply. "Please, let him find the answer before it's too late..."

"So what do you think about the possible suspects?" Roshea asked as Erk caught up to him.

"Hm? Oh, yes...Well, Matthew's definitely starting to pique my suspicions."

"But he wasn't here during the first murder, as he said."

"Not necessarily. Now that I think about it, it did sound a little quiet on his end when I called him. He could have committed the murder, then made his way to another section of the mansion to avoid suspicion. Remind me later to ask the owner about the comings and goings the past couple days."

"Alright. But what about Julian? He seemed to be pretty amused when Matthew and Rickard were going back and forth with each other."

"Yes, but we don't know if it was from being under the influence or not. Although, his whereabouts do put him under the radar. He was missing from the first murder, and we never did find out where everyone was during the second. I just can't think of a motive for him, though."

"Point. And Rickard?"

"I doubt it with him. I'm not saying he couldn't pull it off, because out of all of us, he's the most capable of it. But...why would he? Or Julian, for that matter? They're happy together. They have everything they ever wanted. What would compel either of them to this?"

A piercing scream broke the pair's conversation. Roshea's eyes widened in recognition and alarm. "Rickard?!"

They ran into the common room to find a droopy-eared Hopper sitting a little ways behind Rickard, who was crouched down, sobbing over a face-down body. And when they moved forward to distinguish the victim...

"Oh, gods, no..."

It was Julian. He had a large, freshly-made gash across his back, the blood slowly seeping into the carpet.

Erk moved immediately. He told Roshea, "Keep Rickard back!" and took out his pack while his assistant struggled to hold back the bloody, hysterical teen.

"No! Let me go! Let me go!" Rickard struggled frantically to get out of Roshea's grip and only calmed down partially when, out of frustration, the latter took a sedative needle from Erk and stuck it in the back of his neck.

Matthew ran in just as Erk had started working on Julian. He had a mixture of shock and horror on his face. "My gods! What-"

Erk interrupted him, a low growl in his voice. "If you're going to be here, be useful and keep Rickard back so Roshea can help me." The older man nodded slowly and started moving towards the two teens. "And if you even think about saying something I don't want to hear, I'll come after you myself, are we clear?" He nodded again, a bit more quickly. "Good."

With Roshea's help, the gash was stitched in record time, and Julian was turned over so Roshea could perform CPR and get him breathing again. Erk had to step out momentarily because of the blood. On the way, he saw the lamp once again and took it with him, the fact that it's a cordless creeping him out even more.

"Gods, Gwen, why do you keep showing up wherever there's a murder?" he muttered to the lamp, half-expecting it to answer back. He shook his head. _I'm going crazy here without blood. If I'm talking to lamps now, who knows what'll end up happening in a couple of days. _He simply conceded to planting it in a storage closet a short distance from the common room. If it moved from there, then he'd know that there was nothing coincidental about its appearances.

By the time he went back into the common room, Julian was on all fours, coughing up any blood left in his lungs. Rickard was latched onto his neck, crying his eyes out again. Roshea was sitting back on his hands, craning his neck and panting slightly. Matthew was the first to notice Erk come back in. "Hey," he said quietly. Roshea turned his attention to the doorway and gave the doctor a tired smile.

"Problems?" Erk asked Roshea, sitting down next to him.

The boy huffed and looked back at Julian and Rickard, now having another make-out session. "Took awhile to get him breathing again. For a second there, I didn't think I'd be able to save him."

"But you didn't give up hope and kept trying. That's what our jobs all about." Erk gave him a pat on the back and a reassuring smile, making the teen brighten up. "You did a great job. Better than what I could do at your age."

"...Thank you."

"You know there are man-eating clams in the basement?" a female voice asked from the doorway.

"Yes I do know because one of them tried to bite off my ha- waaaait a minute." Matthew looked puzzled and pointed at the doorway. "Did that lamp just say something?"

At the word "lamp" Erk, froze, and his eye twitched. _I really am going crazy, aren't I?_ He turned slightly and, lo and behold, there it was, sitting in the doorway. Gwen was a moving, talking lamp.

Rickard didn't seem fazed by the awkwardness at all. "Neat, talking lamp!"

Hopper moved over to Gwen and said, as Rickard translated: "Did you really have to take so long to reveal yourse-" Rickard stopped mid-translation, entirely confused. "Wait, what?"

"Yes, Peter Pink, I did." Gwen, in a flash of light, transformed from a lamp into a teenage girl with bright red hair. She took a collar out of her pocket and tied it around Hopper's neck.

"Don't call me that!" the rabbit said through the collar. "That's not my name anymore and you know it!"

"Peter...Pink?" Rickard tried and failed to keep a straight face and collapsed on the floor laughing.

Hopper gave him a bunny's death glare. "Not. Funny. I hated that name."

"But you like Hopper?" Julian asked, looking and sounding somewhat amazed.

"Yes, actually. It's much better. And it comes from someone who actually cares about me."

"Hey, I care about you!" Gwen protested. "I just like making you a bunny spy!"

"'Bunny spy'?" Roshea asked a bit hesitantly.

"Yes, 'bunny spy'," Gwen answered. "I needed him to keep an eye on you guys."

"But why? And why are you even here talking to us now?"

"Because," she started, giving them her own signature smirk. "I know who the killer is."

* * *

**Gwen:** DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNN!

**Courtney:** And there's the end of another story.

**Raven:** Nooooo! I want to know who killed me!

**John:** You still didn't tell them my last words!

**Courtney:** Okay, OKAY! I was kidding! Geeeez...

**Raven:** Oh. Whoops.

**John:** Nice going, Raven.

**Raven:** *death face*

**Gwen:** Woah, creepy face.

**Courtney:** So, who do you think the killer is?

**Raven:** It's the rabbit.

**Courtney:** Uh...how?

**Raven:** Because he screwed me over, that's how! I just wanted to cuddle with the cute little rabbit, and instead I got set on fire and thrown down the flippin' stairs!

**Courtney:** O...K...And thank you for not cussing this time...John?

**John:** I say it's the one detective guy.

**Courtney:** Which one? Erk or Roshea?

**John:** I don't know. Whichever one the detective is.

**Courtney:** Technically they both are.

**John: **Oh, well, whatever. One of those two. It's always the last person you'd expect it to be.

**Courtney:** But if the last person you'd expect it to be is the first person you'd expect it to be, then the first person one would expect it to be becomes the last person they'd expect it to be, and first would end up being last and last would end up being first, in which case the last person and first person would end up being the same person, and no one would know who's being expected or not, never giving the true answer to who it really is.

**John:** ...I didn't understand a word of that.

**Raven:** Me neither.

**Gwen:** Ditto.

**Courtney:** That was the point. I wanted to sound smarticles. So, anyways, time to finish the story!


	4. Gwen & Roshea

Meep.

Time to finish the story!

Disclaimer's at the end. Bolded line belongs to the person who wrote it.

Still my yaois. You need to go somewhere you don't like it and are still here just to criticize me for that.

Talking animals are an Up reference.

Onto the story!

* * *

"Wait, you do?" Matthew asked, sounding a bit excited. "Then tell us who it is!"

"Who do you think it is?"

"What kind of question is that? Why can't you just tell us?"

"Because I want to know what you think first. Besides, it makes it more dramatic this way."

"You think it's me," Rickard said, crossing his arms and turning to Matthew. "You've been accusing me since all of this started."

"Well, yeah, but now...it can't be you. No one would kill the person they love the most for any reason other than mercy...I know that from experience."

Erk gave his friend a sympathetic look. "Matthew..."

"Well, if it makes you feel better, it's not Rickard," Gwen said. "Or you."

"Or Julian," Hopper added. "He couldn't and wouldn't try to kill himself like that."

"But that would leave..." Julian started but didn't finish.

Gwen just crossed her arms and said simply, "It's Roshea."

Everyone else jumped up, shocked, in unison. "WHAT?!" They looked around frantically, but Roshea was no where to be found. The boy had vanished.

"What?! But how?!" Matthew, bewildered, pointed at Erk. "He was with you the whole time, wasn't he?!"

"Just about," Erk answered. "And the times when he wasn't were either at night when nothing happened or for such a short period of time it wouldn't be possible for him to go between the two places."

"So then how-"

"He's a psychic," Rickard said. "It would make perfect sense. He could just warp between the murder scene and where we thought he was in almost no time at all." He started choking on his words with the next sentence. "And the only reason why he saved Julian was to avoid suspicion."

"Of course...It all falls into place." Erk ran a hand through his hair in anger and frustration. "Gods, I'm such an idiot! How could I not see this sooner?!" _Why did I not heed the owner's words?_

"None of us had expected this," Julian said in an attempt to cheer up the older man. "But this does bring up a very good question: why? What does he have to gain by doing this?"

"The motive hardly matters," Matthew said bluntly. "What matters is that we've got a killer on the loose, and one who would likely stop at nothing to get what he wants. But just finding him is going to be a huge problem for us."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," Gwen said. "John wanted me to tell you that his final words were, and I quote: 'This is...my...personal...pro...blem...'" The girl mimicked the exact way the first victim had died, all the way down to the collapse on the floor.

Erk, however, was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to pay much attention. _Roshea...why? What is it you want? You wouldn't do this without cause. Is it really just the darkness as the old man said? ...You won't get away from me. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, I will find you. Just you wait._

On the roof of the mansion, Roshea was watching the entire exchange through a bubble of psychic energy. He simply scoffed at Erk's thoughts. "Oh, we'll see about that, my friend. You refused to listen to the old man, and now you and the rest will pay the price. I WILL get what I want, one way or another. And you'll be the one to give it to me. One day, I will have the one thing I desire." He crossed his arms and stared into the sunset. "One day."

**Courtney:** And we're done!

**John:** I told you he was the killer.

**Raven:** Oh. Wow. I didn't expect that.

**Courtney:** What? That Roshea was the killer or that John was right about something?

**Raven:** Both.

**John:** What is this? You two are bullying me.

**Courtney:** It's only bullying if it happens repeatedly.

**John:** Don't use my words against me!

**Courtney:** Too late.

**John:** Whatever.

**Roshea:** Why'd you make it me?!

**Courtney:** Because it's a huge plottwist making the pacifist the killer.

**Rickard:** CATCH THE KILLER!

**Courtney:** Actually, in the beginning, I was going to make it Rickard...

**Rickard:** Wait, what?! WHY?! I'm too adorable to be made a killer!

**Courtney:** ...which is why I changed it to Matthew...

**Matthew:** Well, that's not very nice.

**Courtney:** ...but then while I was writing the scene where they were helping Julian, I didn't want to make it him anymore. So I decided to go with the huge plottwist and make it Roshea.

**Erk:** And you leave it off as a cliff-hanger.

**Courtney:** Well, the genres are mystery and suspense for a reason...

**Gwen:** Are you making a sequel for it?

**Courtney:** Well, we're writing a sequel to a suspense story for English, so I was planning on tying the two together.

**Gwen:** So there's a sequel.

**Courtney:** Technically, yes, but officially, no.

**Gwen:** ...Oh.

**Courtney:** Anyways, disclaimer: Matthew, Erk, Julian, Rickard, and Roshea don't belong to me. There would be yaoi involved with three of the five otherwise.

**Roshea:** Well, we certainly already know two of them...Who's the last one?

**Courtney:** Matt.

**Matthew:** Wait, what? Oh, right. Guy.

**Rickard:** Uuuuhhh...who?

**Matthew:** A guy Erk and I know...no pun intended.

**Courtney:** And John, Raven, and Gwen belong to themselves.

**Raven:** Well, obviously. We're real people.

**Gwen:** But who owns Hopper?

**Courtney:** Oh, he and the owner are mine.

**Rickard:** Can I keep him?

**Courtney:** Sure. We can't have pets at home anyways.

**Rickard:** YAAAAY!

**Julian: **Where did Peter Pink come from?

**Courtney:** Trista. I asked her what a good name would be, and that's what she said. And she gets a cookie.

**Trista:** COOKIE!

**Rickard:** Hey, I know you! You're that one vampire lady!

**Trista:** And you're my adorable little waifu.

**Julian:** No, he's mine.

**Rickard:** I kinda am...I sowwies.

**Trista:** Awwwwww...Come here.

**Julian:** ...Stealing my wife.

**Trista:** Hugging him isn't the same thing as stealing him!

**Julian:** It is to me.

**Rickard:** He's overprotective.

**Julian:** Yes I am.

**Trista:** I can tell.

**Courtney:** And credit goes to Brittany for the idea. I asked what genres I should do, and she said mystery and romance, so I made it mystery and suspense and did this. ...You're going to take the cookie willingly this time, right?

**Brittany:** Yes, Courtney, I will.

**Courtney:** About time!

**Brittany: I feel honored to be helping you, and to be part of your story. Thank you mom and dad for making me. Thank you to my supporters and my haters, and lastly thank you Courtney for giving me the honor to be part of your story.**

**Roshea:** ...But you're not in the story...

**Courtney:** *death face* *throws cookie*

**Roshea:** Owww!

**Trista:** Didn't I say something last time about throwing cookies at people?!

**Courtney:** But I didn't have anything else to throw at him!

**Rickard:** I can give it to Smokey if that'll make you feel better. She loves cookies. Well, that and blood, but that's a different story.

**Gwen:** Who's Smokey?

**Rickard:** She's my vampire wolf. I love her to death.

**Julian:** He's known her longer than he's known me.

**Rickard:** Yup yup.

**Hopper:** D-did you s-say w-wolf?

**Rickard:** Wha-? Aw, come on, Hopper. She doesn't eat rabbits, she just plays with them. No blood involved. Promise.

**Hopper:** Doesn't make me feel much better...

**Rickard:** You're no fun.

**Courtney:** Well, anyways, um...I can't think of anything else. *sweat drop*

**Raven:** Well, here's a question: what's with all the accents? Two of them are Irish, one of them's British, and the other two I'm guessing are American since you didn't say anything for them.

**Courtney:** Well, Roshea and Aurelis I covered last time with the similarities to Ireland and yadda yadda yadda...Julian I have as a half-blood, and which one did I say was the Aurelian again?

**Julian:** My mother.

**Courtney:** Right. So he got the accent from her. Erk and Etruria are just a Harry Potter reference because of the magic and everything.

**Erk:** I call that stereotyping. Not all magic users are British.

**Courtney:** Whatever. And Matthew and Rickard I don't have anything for yet, so I just say they're American right now until I figure out the places in real life their homelands are like.

**Raven:** Makes sense.

**Courtney:** Anything else?

**John:** What'd you think of my final words?

**Brittany:** They're so like you.

**John:** Well, duh. I came up with them.

**Brittany:** Well, sorry, I thought Courtney did.

**John:** She doesn't come up with anything. I tell her what to write and she writes it.

**Courtney:** ...Liar.

**Gwen:** Why are they so old?

**Matthew:** I take offense to that.

**Courtney:** Because I can't ship Marth x Roy if Roy hasn't been born yet!

**Erk:** What did I just hear? Is Roy cheating on Lilina?

**Courtney:** Possibly...It depends on what time it is. Has Rory been born yet?

**Erk:** Who?

**Courtney:** Yeah, he's cheating on her.

**Matthew:** I'm going to kill him.

**Rickard:** Someone's overprotective of his liege's daughter...

**Matthew:** Go away, Rickard.

**Rickard:** NEEEVVEERRR!

**Matthew:** That's it, get over here.

**Rickard:** Eeep! SAVE MEEEE!

**Roshea:** *facepalm* Oh, not again...

**Julian:** Should we go help Rickard?

**Erk:** Yeah, we probably should.

**Courtney:** Well, I guess it's time to wrap things up while they're doing that. This is only, like, half as long as the last one 'cause there was all that commentary during the story. So now you know the rules.

**Roshea:** I still can't believe you made it me.

**Courtney:** If it makes you feel better, it's because your demon side took over. And your demon side looks awesome.

**Roshea:** Works for me.

**Courtney:** Later, people.


End file.
